Multibarrel machine gun



July 16, 1946.

B. COLEMAN MULI'IBARREL MACHINE GUN 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 11, 1943INVENTOR.

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IN VEN TOR.

July 16, 1946. COLEMAN 2,404,277

MULTI BARREL MACHINE GUN Filed 001:. 11, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 BY I 1July 16, 1946. B. F. COLEMAN MULTIBARREL MACHINE GUN -6 Sheets-Sheet 6Filed 0012. ll 1945 so if INVENTOR.

Patented July 16, 194 6 2,404,277 MULTIBARREL MACHINE GUN Benjamin FrankColeman, Prentiss, Miss. Application October 11, 1943, Serial No.505,831

2 Claims.

This invention relates to machine guns, and more particularly to machineguns of the multibarrel type.

An important object of the invention is to provide a machine gun of thischaracter, embodying adjusting means, for controlling the movements ofthe barrels of the gun, so that the gun may be readily and accuratelyaimed by the gunner in charge of firing the gun.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sliding breech-blockembodying a hammer pin plate and an extractor disk operablesimultaneously, so that the fired shells may be readily extracted by theextractor disk, upon the return movement of the breech-block preparatoryto reloading the gun.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of means forautomatically opening the shell extractor fingers, forming a part of thebreech-block, releasing the shells for deposit in a receptacle, disposeddirectly under the breechblock. 1

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a multibarrelmachine gun, constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 22 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the gun.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the gun illustrating the positionof the breech-block, immediately after firing.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on line '|-'I of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a fragmental elevational view illus-- trating the bearingsfor the magazine.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on line 99 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken on line Ill-40 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the gun carriage is indicatedgenerally'by the reference character 5 and includes a front wall 6,sidewalls I and a bottom 8.

Secured to the side walls I and extending inwardly therefrom, arebearing members 9 in which the ends of the shaft ID are mounted. Theshaft l0 provides a support for the gun-mount indicated generally by thereference character I l which is also box-like in formation and includesa front wall I2, which is formed'with an opening through which the gunbarrel 13 extends. The gun barrel I3 is of substantially large diameter,and is provided with a plurality of concentric longitudinal bores, asclearly shown by Figure 5 of the drawings, the bores constituting theindividual barrels, in which the cartridges or shells explode on beingfired.

As shown by Figure 2 of the drawings theforward end of the gun barrell3, extends through an enlarged opening in the front wall 6 of the guncarriage, the opening in the front wall being sufiiciently large topermit the gun barrel l3 to be tilted to aim the gun.

Mounted on the front wall of the gun-mount, is an arcuate-shaped rackbar III that meshes with the pinion l5 carried at one end of the shaftIS, the shaft being mounted in the bearings I! at the forward end of thegun-mount. A pinion I8 is mounted on one end of the shaft It so thatrotary movement of the pinion [8 will result in a rotary movement of theshaft 16 and pinion l5 mounted thereon, to'move the rack bar l4 andconsequently raise and lowerthe gunmount. The reference character I!)designates a chain that moves over the pinion IS. The chain also movesover the pinion 20 mounted on a shaft that in turn operates in thebearing 2|,

the pinion 20 being operated by the crank handle 22.

The reference character 23 designates thevertically movable magazine,which is cylindrical in formation, and of a diameter slightly less thanthe diameter of the gun barrel, so that the magazine may be properlypositioned with respect to the gun barrel, to load the bores of thebarrel.

The magazine is provided with a plurality of bores 24 that receive theshells, the bores being arranged so that when the magazine is in itslowermost position to load the gun, the bores ofthe magazine willregister with the bores of the' gun barrel. Operating within themagazine, is a'sliding disk 25, which is of a diameter to closely 'fitwithin the magazine. Plungers 26-extendforwardly from the disk 25, andare so located that they will extend into thebores of the magazine,

as clearly shown by Figure of the drawings. Pinions indicated at 21extend from opposite sides of the disk 25, and rest in the bearings 28,the bearings having their upper sides open, to allow the pintles 21 tomove vertically into the bearings. The elongated openings 29 are formedin opposite sides of the magazine 23, and accommodate the pintles 21,whereby the disk 25 may be moved longitudinally of the magazine, forloading purposes. The bearings 23 are supported in elongated openingsformed in the side walls of the gun-mount II, and are so arranged thatthey will move freely throughout the length of the openings. Theelongated openings are horizontally disposed, so that upon movement ofthe bearings 28 through the openings, the disk 25 will be moved towardsand away from the loading end of the gun barrel, to accomplish theloading of the gun.

Links 30 connect with the bearings 28 at opposite sides of thegun-mount, the links 38 being pivotally connected with the rods 3! thatare secured to the horizontal shaft 32, the shaft 32 being supplied withhand levers 33 at its ends, whereby the shaft may be rotated to adjustthese bearings 28. Disposed within the gun-mount, are vertical guides 34that accommodate the flange 35 that is secured to the magazine. Due tothis construction, it will be seen that vertical movement of themagazine to and from its loading position, will be insured.

A support indicated at 38 extends across the top of the gun-mount, andprovides a support for the pulley 31, over which the cable 38 operates,the cable 38 having one end thereof secured to the magazine, as at 39.The cable 38 also operates over the pulley 40 mounted in a bracketsecured to the front wall of the gun-mount from where the cable extendsdownwardly and is wound on the drum 4! mounted in the brackets 42. Acrank handle 43 is provided on the shaft of the drum 4| whereby thecable may be wound on the drum or paid off. A latch indicated at 44 isprovided for holding the drum in various positions, and to prevent thedrum from unwinding the cable, under the weight of the magazine, whenthe magazine has been elevated.

The reference character 45 designates a supporting rod which extendsfrom the rear wall 45 of the gun-mount, the forward end of thesupporting rod being extended into an opening formed in the gun barrel,as clearly shown by Figure 5 of the drawings. Mounted on the supportingrod 45, is the breech-block 41 that includes a movable disk 48 to whichthe firing pins 49 are secured. These firing pins are supplied withdisks 50 that move in enlarged openings, formed in the breech-blockproper, the disks providing stops for the outer ends of the coiledsprings 5|, which are shown as positioned on the firing pins with theirouter ends engaging the inner ends of the openings in which the disks5!] move.

Associated with the disks 50, are pivoted extractor arms 52 that havetheir forward curved ends so arranged that they will engage under theheads of shells, to remove the shells, when the breech-block is movedrearwardly, after the firing of the shells. The disks 50 are so arrangedwith respect to the inner ends of the arms 52, that when the disks moveinto engagement with the rearward ends of the arms 52, the forward endsof the arms will be swung inwardly towards each other to grip theshells. Coiled springs 53 bear against the rearward ends 4 of the arms52, normally urging the forward ends of the arms 52, away from eachother.

When the disk 48 moves forwardly in firin the shells, latch members 54move over the edge of the disk 48, temporarily holding the disk incontact with the main portion of the breechblock. These latch members 54have curved outer surfaces adapted to be engaged by the curved edge ofthe latch-actuating ring 55, to move the latch members out. of contactwith the disk '48. When the disk 48 has been released, the springs 5|will act to move the disk and firing pins, to the position as shown byFigure 5 of the drawings.

The hammer, which is indicated by the reference character 58 is mountedfor sliding movement, longitudinally of the supporting rod 45, and isurged forwardly, by the action of the heavy coiled spring 51, which isalso mounted on the supporting shaft 45, one end of the coiled springresting against the rear wall 46 of the gun-mount. A pivoted,latchmember 58 is carried by the latch-actuating ring 55 and is adaptedto engage the hammer 56, holding the hammer in its set position. A shaft59 is also mounted on the latch-actuating ring and is provided with afinger 65 adapted to engage the tail-piece of "the pivoted latch 58, totilt the latch 58 and disengage the latch 58 and hammer 56, releasingthe hammer. A hand lever BI is mounted on each end of the shaft 59 sothat the shaft 59 may 'be operated from either side of the gunvmount.

The breech-block is actuated by the shaft, which is mounted in suitablebearings formed in the walls of the gun-mount. Arms 63 connect withopposite ends of the shaft 62, and have pivotal connection with the'rods'64 that extend;forwardly. These rods. 64 have pivotal connectionwith the breech-block, as clearly shown by the drawings. Thus it will beseen that by operating the hand levers 65 mounted on the ends of theshaft 62, the breech-block may be moved towards or away from the gunbarrel. The rod 66 connects with the latch-actuating ring 55, andextends into the inner end of the gun barrel, as shown by Figure 5. Thisrod 66 also extends through a bore, formed in the lower portion of thebreech-block 41, whereby the breech-block is prevented from rotating,while it is being moved towards or away from the gun barrel,

Openings are formed in opposite sides of the gun-mount, and accommodatepivoted latch members 61, which latch members have their inner endsurged towards the breech-block, by means of the springs 68 that bearagainst the outer ends of the latch members. Hand levers 69 are mountedadjacent to the. latch members 61, and have lugs thereon adapted toengage the latch members to move the latch members, to positions, out ofcontact with the breech-block, when it is desired to return thebreech-block to a position to permit the loading of the gun. Arodindicated at 10 connects the hand levers 69 so that operation of onehand'lever, results in a relative movement of the hand lever atthe'opp'osite side of the gun-mount: i

In the operation of the gun, the magazine, which has been moved to aposition as shown by Figure 6 of the drawings, is filled'with shells tobe placed in the gun barrel; The hand. levers 65 are now operated tomove the breech block rearwardly,to the position shown by Figure 5.

The magazine is now lowered into the position as shown by Figure 5,andthe hand lever 33 at one side of the gun-mount, is operated to movethe disks 25 and plungers 26, forwardly, forcing rel and breech block,said magazine being conthe shells into the bores of the barrel. structedand arranged to move to a position above The magazine is now elevated toa position the gun barrel and adapted to deliver shells to 7 above thegun-mount. By operating the levers be fired to positions opposite to thebores of the 65, the breech-block is now moved to a position 5 barrel,when lowered, plungers slidably mounted wherein the firing pins will bedisposed directly Within the magazine and adapted to force shellsopposite to the caps of the shells which have been rom the magazine intothe bores of the gun barplqced i th bores of th b l, rel, firing pinsoperating in the breech block, and Either of the hand levers 6| may nowbe opermeans Operating the firing p whereby Said ated to release thepivoted latch 58 which allows 10 shells a fired simultaneously thehammer 56 tobe shot forwardly, into engage- In a machine gun, a barrelhaving a pluralment with the disk 48, resulting in the firing pins 5 0fbo e a vertically moving shell magazine being suddenly moved forwardly tfire t cap operating adjacent to the breech end of the barrel andconsequently force the bullets of the shells, and having bores adaptedto be loaded with shells through the bores of the gun. to be fired,means for moving said magazine to a When the breech-block is returned tothe posis t n w r n the or s f the ma az ne and w as Shown by Figure 5of t drawings, t barrel align, a disk movable within the magazine,shells which have been extracted by the pivoted D n s un n e dis meansfor moving ejector arms 52, Will be deposited in the opening the kwhereby the p n s o ce Shells from H in the bottom of the gun-mount, Thgun is the magazine into the bores of the barrel, abreech aw ready forreloading, block mounted for horizontal sliding movement What is claimedis: adjacent to the magazine, firing pins mounted 1. In a machine gun, abarrel having a pluralon the breech block and adapted to fire shells ityof longitudinal bores, a sliding breech block held in the bores of thebarrel, and means for opmounted at one end of the gun barrel, avertierating said firin pin explodin the shells sically movable magazinehaving a plurality of multaneously.

shell receiving bores, operating between the bar- BENJAMIN FRANKCOLEMAN.

